A Met Police worker sacked for making ‘disgusting’ and ‘sexual’ comments has successfully claimed he was discriminated against because of his ADHD.
Martin Madden, 49, claimed he could not help making inadvertent sexual innuendos to female colleagues – and with the aid of his own wife has won at tribunal.
The Met civilian police worker had left Jennifer Hall ‘disgusted’ joking about ‘playing with’ his ‘joystick’.
Colleague Troyangel Vydelingum felt he was ‘crude’ when he asked about her ‘pom poms’.
And his manager Tracey Ingram initiated concerns in September 2022 when he told her he would ‘make sure he had it up for her’ in meetings.
The same month, the Metropolitan Police gained a new Commissioner in Sir Mark Rowley, in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a Met policeman in 2021. Sir Mark vowed to tackle ‘unacceptable behaviours’.
When the three women realised they had similar experiences with Mr Madden, they complained.
Sacked Metropolitan Police civilian worker Martin Madden
Mr Madden, who lives with wife Leanne, 45, in south London, had worked at the Police National Computer Bureau, within the Met, since 2001.
He had an ‘unblemished’ record until his dismissal in February 2024.
His wife Leanne told an employment tribunal in Croydon last month that he had been diagnosed with ADHD in August 2022.
A month later, ‘happily married’ Ms Ingram told him to stop making inappropriately ‘forward’ comments.
Aside from joking he ‘had it up for her’, he also said she her WhatsApp picture was ‘lovely’.
And when a colleague was rooting through her handbag, ‘he said ‘get your bits out’.
Ms Vydelingum’s said in December 2022, in response to a Facebook picture of herself dressed as a cheerleader, Mr Madden commented: ‘I was going to ask where are your pom poms’.
A month later, Mr Madden repeatedly pestered colleague Miss Hall to accompany him to the work gym.
And she recalled that the previous summer when she commented on his new PlayStation he joked: ‘Yea you can’t beat a good old play with myself on my joy stick.’
In an investigation launched in April 2023, Mr Madden maintained that he was just being ‘friendly’ and that he meant comments such as ‘get your bits out’, literally.
An ADHD expert said he found it ‘hard to refrain from saying something that comes to mind’.
But the Met ignored his ADHD pleas, and he was sacked.
Employment Judge Liz Ord found the police worker’s ‘social boundaries were blurred and he did not observe social cues’.
Judge Ord said: ‘The Metropolitan Police knew about Mr Madden’s ADHD and concedes he was disabled.
‘He did not appreciate his actions were inappropriate.
‘He was dismissed because of his comments. This was unfavourable treatment because of something arising in consequence of his disability.’
Mr Maddens is now in line for compensation.